Robert D. Mariani
How Judge Mariani rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Mariani
Robert David Mariani is a judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Mariani received a commission on October 19, 2011. Judge Mariani assumed senior status on September 30, 2022.
Judge Mariani's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Mariani, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Filing
Do not send courtesy copies unless the court directs otherwise.
“Counsel should not forward any courtesy copies to the court, unless otherwise directed to do so.”
Motions
Request court action on a pending matter by motion with a proposed order, rather than correspondence.
“the matter should be presented to the court in the form of a motion with a proposed order.”
Trial
Submit proposed jury instructions in a digital format other than PDF.
“proposed jury instructions should be submitted in digital non-PDF format.”
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
How Judge Mariani decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Marcy’s habeas case, Mariani reviewed the magistrate judge’s recommendation and the Commonwealth’s objections, declined to adopt the recommendation, and dismissed the petition.
“The Report and Recommendation (Doc. 22) is NOT ADOPTED for the reasons set forth in this Court's memorandum opinion. Respondents' Objections are SUSTAINED to the extent consistent with this Court's memorandum opinion.”
Procedural preferences
The court's own case-management guidance directs that trial dates be set roughly within a year of filing where feasible, requires pre-trial briefs at the pre-trial conference, permits multiple attorneys per party at trial but only one questioning a given witness, and routes settlement discussions in non-jury cases to a magistrate judge or mediator.
“Except in more complex cases, Judge Mariani attempts to schedule a trial date within one year of the filing of the action but the trial date may be earlier, if all parties are amenable.”
On preliminary review, an official's decision to transfer a prisoner into Pennsylvania did not by itself establish the forum-directed contacts needed for personal jurisdiction; when the proper venue was uncertain, the court dismissed that defendant without prejudice rather than select a transferee district.
“Because it is not entirely clear where proper venue may lie, the Court will dismiss the claims against Warden Carlton without prejudice, rather than transfer it to another judicial district.”
Cautions
In Gibson v. Mason, Mariani dismissed claims against Dr. Baddick because the amended complaint did not plead his personal involvement in the alleged civil rights violations. He also dismissed the medical malpractice claim for failure to file a compliant certificate of merit and found further amendment futile.
“Gibson's vague and conclusory allegations fail to satisfy the specific pleading requirements set forth above.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 33) is GRANTED. SUMMARY JUDGMENT IS ENTERED IN FAVOR OF DEFENDANT BARDER AND AGAINST PLAINTIFF WITH PREJUDICE. SUMMARY JUDGMENT IS ENTERED IN FAVOR OF DEFENDANTS STAKE AND ROSE AND AGAINST PLAINTIFF WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court will grant Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. (Doc. 31). A separate Order follows.”
“The Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 5) is GRANTED. Plaintiff's Complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE AND WITH LEAVE TO AMEND.”
“In sum, Plaintiffs' failed to present evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that Defendants' acts or omissions caused Plaintiffs claimed injury. ... the Court concludes that there is no genuine dispute of material fact with respect to causation and will grant Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment in its entirety.”
“For the reasons set forth above, the petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 2254 will be denied.”
“The Report and Recommendation (Doc. 22) is NOT ADOPTED for the reasons set forth in this Court's memorandum opinion. Respondents' Objections are SUSTAINED to the extent consistent with this Court's memorandum opinion. The Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 2254 (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED.”
“Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 31) is DENIED”
“Secretary's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 34) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART; The motion is GRANTED as to the FLSA recordkeeping violation ...; The motion is DENIED in all other respects.”
“Based on the foregoing, the Court will deny the motions (Docs. 58, 79, 92, 95) for injunctive relief.”
“Defendant's Motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART; The Motion is GRANTED as to Count IV; Count IV of Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint (Doc. 21) is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE; The Motion is DENIED as to Count V”
“The R&R (Doc. 11) is ADOPTED for the reasons stated therein. Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint (Doc. 4) is GRANTED. The above-captioned action is DISMISSED.”
“The Court will grant Defendant Dr. Baddick's motion (Doc. 45) to dismiss. A separate Order shall issue.”
“Based on the foregoing, the medical Defendants' motion (Doc. 32) to dismiss will be granted in part and denied in part. A separate Order shall issue.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- The sampled 2015-2016 civil dockets spanned employment discrimination and civil-rights-jobs claims, ERISA and consumer-credit disputes, ADA immigration-detainee and state-prisoner habeas petitions, a trade-secret and breach-of-contract suit against a former employee, and a municipal Section 1983 suit.
- Several employment and insurance cases resolved through court-annexed mediation or settlement without a contested ruling on the merits, consistent with a civil docket where most cases resolve before judgment.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 18 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 5 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 18 | 5 |
| Sep 2025 | 3 | 5 |
| Mar 2025 | 3 | 8 |
| Sep 2024 | 4 | 8 |
| Mar 2024 | 17 | 17 |
| Sep 2023 | 116 | 54 |
| Mar 2023 | 140 | 49 |
| Sep 2022 | 98 | 42 |
| Mar 2022 | 140 | 40 |
| Sep 2021 | 108 | 50 |
| Mar 2021 | 95 | 48 |
| Sep 2020 | 58 | 32 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, not for Judge Mariani: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 1,590 | 8.5 months |
| Closed with no court action | 660 | 6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 901 | 10.6 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 21 | 39.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 8 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,590 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,535 | 8.7 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,370 | 11 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,550 | 12.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,420 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,410 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,611 | 11 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
Draft for Judge Mariani with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Mariani, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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